This paper seeks to provide a preliminary investigation into how Jews respond to fear-inducing experiences. In particular, it will focus on two of the most harrowing experiences of Jewish history: the destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans and the Holocaust. What terminology has been used to describe these experiences? How has the memory of these events evolved over the generations, and can the process of adapting to the more ancient experience predict how Judaism will evolve as a result of more recent experiences? Each of these questions would take a book to answer. But even initial discoveries may yield practical outcomes; the best predictor of future responses to fear is most certainly the past. To read the article in its entirety, please see Issue 5, Part I of the Journal of Inter-Religious Dialogue.

This article was written for the “Managing Fear through Faith” conference, sponsored by Bradley Hills Presbyterian Church, U.S. in the World Initiative and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and co-hosted by Bethesda Jewish Congregation, Idara e Jaferia Mosque, the Journal of Inter-Religious Dialogue, the InterFaith Conference of Metropolitan Washington, and the New America Foundation.